Thunder
by COMPLETARE
Summary: Four years after the Kira-case Near finds himself on the roof of a hotel, being pointed at with a gun. Mello had always protected him, so where was he now? Near/Mello, oneshot


The weather was truly frightening. Million different shades of grey and black, crossing the sky with huge storm clouds. Once there had been a time when Near had feared it, all the noise and flashing lightnings. Now it seemed so distant…

Standing on the rooftop of a five-star hotel, a tempest raging around him, the pale boy found himself almost peaceful. It didn't rain, which was good for the fact that he stood near the edge and it wouldn't be too hard to fall if the roof had been wet and slippery.

As another lightning hit, Near relaxed even more. Remote memory of slim hands around him, making him feel safe and cozy despite of the thunder, made the albino close his eyes and get forgotten into his thoughts.

.

Besides all his intelligence and self-control, Near had still been just a child. His room had been so scary when the storms stroke. All the noise, the shadows made by flash of lightning. He hadn't felt secure. But when he woke up in those nights, his instincts immediately told him what to do, what was the best option to get the feeling of safety again.

He ran out of his room, holding his ears and jolted every time the thunder rumbled. The room he needed to find wasn't far, but the distance still had felt too long. Without a knock he stepped inside the room and with no hesitation he crawled in to the bed, where his savior waited for him.

He curled up next to him under the blanket and felt so much relief after a pair of hands pulled him closer. There it was, the safety and comfort Near had searched, in the shape of a strawberry blonde boy.

"You're cold" said quiet voice to his ear. Mello's breath smelled like chocolate.

"I'm sorry" Near whispered, nestling his head to the elder's shoulder.

"Don't be" Mello looked at him with those observant blue eyes, as blue as the sky after storm.

In the Wammy's house, the rules we're clear between the two of them. It was a well-known fact, that Mello didn't like Near. He had so much grunge towards Near, so much hatred and envy, that it was a miracle he hadn't already strangled the younger boy. They were rivals. They weren't supposed to like each other.

But in the stormy nights, those rules didn't exist. Mello didn't kick him out of his bed, didn't say any bad word of his fear. No mocking, no laughter.

The first time Near had ran to his bedroom, Mello hadn't even asked the reason. The blonde didn't fear the thunder, for he was sleeping in peace before Near came and shook him awake. Few moments of bewilderment. Then he saw the fear in the younger boy's eyes, and they had a mutual understanding in silence. After that night, every time it was thundering, Near found his way to Mello's room. And Mello protected him.

.

The grey eyes flew open, as he heard a sharp click behind his back. The sound was all too familiar for Near being surrounded by agents and cops all the time. Gun had been loaded.

Not giving away any kind of reaction, he turned to face the sudden threat.

Few meters from him stood about thirty years old man, pointing at him with a shooter, looking slightly confused.

In two seconds Near's brilliant mind made conclusions. He didn't know the man, but with the violent face and familiar-looking gang tattoo on his neck, he knew the guy was some kind of criminal. An assassin, Near guessed, by the way he hold the gun with confidence. He had definitely killed before.

Was he after Near? Absolutely. They had been on the hotel for a little bit too long time, because of the case that had lasted longer than the albino had estimated. He had solved it yesterday, but they still hadn't left the building, for they had some sort of problems with transport. Now he knew who had caused them.

Questions filled the now 21-year-old boy's head. Who did the guy work for? How did the man find him? Near was certain that he knew him to be L, because he wouldn't have any other reason for threatening him with a gun. How did the guy know when Near went to the roof? They had booked all of the upper suites, so he had probably hacked to the security system of the hotel and watched with cameras as he left the suite, via corridor to the roof.

But that would have meant that he knew Near's face, knew him to be L. That raised another question; which way had he find that out? If you counted that and the fact that the man had known his location, he had just one conclusion. He had a traitor on his team.

The deduction had been made in only few seconds, but it still didn't satisfy Near.

"It can't be you…" the killer said, glancing Near with a unbelieving look. "How could the great L be just a scrawny kid?"

From the moment he had seen the gun pointing at him, Near had known that this would be his end. There was no escape from there, except the door behind the man.

He would be killed, whether the man believed him to be L or not.

Of course it was Near's own fault. He hadn't told anyone he went outside. He had noticed the thunder, and he instantly had to come out. Four years he had been turning even more and more numb and apathetic. He knew it was a depression, but he didn't want to fight it. He didn't want to get over the things that had been happening to him. Nightmares resembled about it every time he went to sleep.

But now, when the sky was foaming around him, he _felt_. He remembered Mello, Matt, L…. everyone that had passed away, left him alone in desolation. He felt pain, and it felt so good.

"What are you, like, twenty?" man scowled with frustration. "That would mean….you started your detective-work five years old?"

The man obviously didn't know about Near being just the successor to the real L. So his source of information couldn't be someone of the old SPK. That relieved Near just a bit.

He didn't show single emotion on his face, didn't say a word, as he started to think for the surviving plan. He couldn't jump, the fall would certainly kill him. The man was too far for him to get the gun out of his hands. No matter how hard Near tried to find a way out of the situation, he knew it would be impossible.

For at least he could try and make the man get caught after his death. But it was hard for him.

Near needed time. That was his weakness. He wasn't impulsive like Mello had been, he hadn't got the ability to do actions in surprise. He had to plan everything perfectly, he had to think everything through.

"Not really the talkative type, are you?" the man growled.

"I highly doubt that you're here to have a conversation with me" Near tilted his head, making it look natural, but actually he was just checking the door behind the man.

And he almost couldn't believe his eyes. The door was closed. The toy robot Near had left on the doorway to keep it from closing was gone, and the entry was now shut. The man had locked himself on the roof, and didn't even realize it.

"So you admit being L?" the man asked dumbly.

The expression on Near's face didn't even flinch as he straightened his head.

"I don't see how one could get confession from that. I am just simply applying that it is quite clear that you are not here to talk" the albino stated with his monotone voice.

The man gritted his teeth and gave him a murderous glare.

"And I'm applying that you definitely are L. No one else could be so calm when someone is about to shoot them. Well, it's over now, _boy_" the man said the word like it was something you should be ashamed of. "It'll end now. The days of being a hero."

A hero? Near didn't know if he should be amused or annoyed, so he stayed apathetic. They all liked to think they knew him. But there had been only one person who had truly known him, and he was now gone.

Somewhere, the lightning hit and the sky flashed bright.

"Then what are you waiting for? Shoot me."

The man looked at him astonished for a moment, and then his grip on the gun tightened.

Seconds stretched into eternity. It was almost like everything had suddenly turned into a slow-motion. Near saw everything clearly.

Just as the man pulled the trigger, lightning hit so close to them, that the man jolted. His hand moved, and Near suddenly realized, that the bullet had hit him.

Not in the heart, where it was supposed to. It was the shoulder. Although he didn't feel any sort of pain, the bullet had hit him hard, and the force had pushed him back. Then he realized it. He was going to die.

Mello

He would see Mello again.

The thought made him smile, the first real smile in four years. He shut his eyes. Then he was falling, down, down, down.

Air howled in his ears as he felt everything around him getting clouded. He wouldn't feel anything, when he'd slam on the ground. The fall was way too big.

And all of sudden, he felt arms around him.

_Don't you dare_

The falling got slower and slower. The grey eyes flew open. He was still falling, but he was now on a vertical position, and he couldn't actually call it 'falling' anymore…it was more like floating.

_Don't you fucking dare_

That voice….Near was hundred percent positive he was hallucinating. But this hallucination was beautiful, oh so beautiful. Slender body pressed against his back, strong arms tightly wrapped around him, and cool lips on his ear. And the sound of flapping, the rocking movement of their falling….

"Mello" Near asked, "Are you an angel?"

_Are you an idiot? _

"Yes" Near breathed, enjoying the smile he felt was growing on Mello's face.

He was safe, so safe in those arms. His mind had made a vision of Mello, being there to protect him. And then, when he'd hit the ground and die….

"Why did you do it?" the ground was getting closer as the question escaped from between his lips "Why did you leave me?"

_Near…._

The voice was sadder than he'd ever heard it to be, and he regret the question immediately. He didn't want him to be sad. He wanted Mello to be strong and take care of him.

And then Near felt himself being gently pressed to the grass. Everything was blurred. He was trying to focus his gaze, but it was hard.

Then there was a shadow above him. It looked like a mess of blonde and black. Then his eyes settled on other ones, blue and bright, so familiar and warm. The smell of chocolate was everywhere.

"You're beautiful" Near murmured without thinking.

_The bullet, Near. Dig it out. _

Near's vision was getting blurry again. He saw black dots, and it annoyed him. He wanted to see Mello and ask him why was he looking so worried. This hallucination was strange.

_The bullet. Now!_

Maybe a small part of Near's awareness was awake, because he understood. With two slim fingers, he dug the bullet out. It felt so strange. It was almost as he knew it should hurt, but it didn't. His bloody hand slumped to his side, powerless.

"Are you going to leave?" he asked the hallucination-Mello.

_The pain starts soon. You will pass out._

"No…" Near moaned quietly. He knew that when the pain would hit, the hallucination would end. He didn't want that. He didn't want Mello to leave.

_Near, promise me_

"…What?" Near breathed. He was starting to feel unpleasant tingling on his shoulder.

_Don't give up like that. I said that I'll be waiting for you, but not in years. _

"I…don't…understand…" speaking started to become harder.

_Nate…._

"…Mihael…."

Slim fingers fondled gently Near's lips. Then sky blue eyes met the storm grey ones for the last time.

His beautiful hallucination was gone.

And then he felt the pain. Harrowing feeling spread from his shoulder to every nerve he had. But the pain was nothing compared to the one he mentally felt.

As Mello had promised, it didn't take long after Near passed out.

.

* * *

.

Near woke up in a hospital room. First thing he noticed was the pain in his shoulder. Someone had tied it with a roll bandage. He had obviously been given morphine, but the spot where the bullet had hit still hurt like hell. The second thing he noticed was that he wasn't dead.

For a moment he just stared around the room. The light glooming through the window was golden, and the sky was clear and blue as it always was after storm. But even with the most beautiful weather outside, it was still just a hospital room, not heaven nor hell.

It was rather irritating, how slowly Near's mind worked right now, because the third thing he noted was the black-haired man sitting on the bench on the other side of the room.

Gevanni wasn't yet aware of Near's consciousness, and he riffled a magazine with bored expression. Now that Near's ears started to work properly, he heard Rester talking with someone behind the closed door.

For the first time in ages, Near stopped to think how glad he was, that they hadn't left him. They had actually stayed with him, helped him with his cases and practically with everything else too. They were still there.

Near felt his throat being sore, but he didn't really care about it.

"Gevanni" he said with a hoarse voice.

The man lifted immediately his gaze and as he saw Near awake, he called Rester and the doctor in.

Soon there was two man and smiling doctor surrounding him. The doctor gave him water, and they all stared at him drinking, which felt genuinely awkward.

"How are you feeling?" the doctor's sympathetic tone sounded fake, but Near didn't care. He saw no reason for lying so he told the doctor how much the shoulder hurt.

"You can have more morphine soon, but we need to talk first" Rester said, and hushed the protesting doctor with one sharp look.

"You're right. Could you leave us for a moment?" Near turned back to the doctor.

The woman looked a little offended, but she still left, without saying a word. Rester and Gevanni turned to me, immediately after the door was closed.

"We're trying to make this quick" Gevanni said with a apologizing voice.

"Of course." Near didn't actually care that much. Pain was one of the things he could easily shut out.

"So, Near, we saw you. I was on the window at the moment, and I saw you falling. And that does not make sense, because when we found you at the ground, you were still alive, still in one piece, only unconscious. And that doesn't make any sense. How did you do it?" Rester asked, voice concerned.

Near looked at them in puzzlement. He really had fallen…? But how could that be possible? It didn't make any sense, it wasn't logical.

Someone had shot him on the roof. Near had had a hallucination of Mello being an angel and saving him. But he had been on the roof that time. That was the only possible explanation. Then why would they tell him that he fell?

"I…do not know. I remember being shot. Then I went unconscious, and the next thing I remember is waking up here" Near spoke with his emotionless voice, trying not to give anything away.

Gevanni and Rester both frowned.

"You don't remember falling? But you fell. We found you at the lawn, next to the entrance"

Near just shook his head, his thoughts all messed up.

"That's not thing to be concerned right now. Did you get the shooter?" Near asked, trying to change the topic. He couldn't stop thinking about the cool lips on his ear…

"Yes, he is now in interrogation. I assume we have betrayer on our team, but we'll find that out soon enough. We had to get you safe first. But you don't have to worry about that right now. Get some rest."

"Right. Where are we now exactly?" Near asked, turning his attention out of the window again. It was clearly a city, but it wasn't the same they had been earlier. This one felt familiar, but Near couldn't get in his head how familiar exactly.

"We're in Winchester. Just you, me and Gevanni. Halle stayed to question the shooter. We didn't think it would be safe for you to stay there. In case you wonder, you have been unconscious for three days now."

Near kept his eyes on the window, suddenly feeling sad again.

"..so, Winchester…" he muttered more to himself than to the men next to him. Maybe he could visit Wammy's house when he'd get out of the hospital.

"Okay, Near, we're going to leave you in peace now. Try to sleep. And if you want the morphine, press that button." Gevanni said.

Near nodded silently, and the two men walked to the door.

Then the albino noticed the chocolate bar on the bedside table.

"What's that?" he asked before they had left the room.

"Oh…when you were unconscious, you muttered something about Mello and that you wanted to have a bar of chocolate. We thought that it wouldn't harm if we'd get it to you…"

"Oh." was all Near could answer.

Rester and Gevanni left the room, leaving Near alone with his thoughts.

He was so confused. He thought about the hallucination, about the feeling of happiness he had felt. It couldn't be possible…

Near reached the chocolate, and looked at it for a moment. Then he broke a piece, put it into his mouth and let it melt to his tongue.

He had been avoiding chocolate so long…it reminded him about Mello too much. Now it just felt strange, maybe because the pain was already on its upper limit and it couldn't go any worse.

Near was quite sure of his own sanity. He had never had hallucinations before, but he was sure it wouldn't be too rare for people in shock to happen. He had already been on a fragile state for the thunder.

"Was it you, Mello?" he said with a thoughtful tone, viewing the sky as blue as Mello's eyes. "Did you save me?"

Near had seen a shinigami. He had seen a book that killed everyone whose name was written there. Was it so hard to believe that maybe, just maybe, he had had his Mello back for a moment?

He put another piece of chocolate into his mouth, letting it drug him with the taste of his savior, who still seemed to protect him.

He fell asleep soon after taking a new dose of medicine, and for the first time in ages, he didn't have bad dreams.

The storm had passed.


End file.
